Oxfordshire County Council - Retrofit as a Service

Oxfordshire County Council is conducting preliminary market engagement in advance of a planned procurement for a domestic Retrofit as a Service (RaaS) programme.

The programme seeks to improve the energy performance of owner-occupied homes through the deployment of domestic low-carbon energy technologies and associated services. The Council intends to procure a long-term service capable of supporting residents throughout the lifecycle of the installation, from initial assessment and installation through to operation, maintenance, optimisation, customer support and end-of-term arrangements.

The Council has previously undertaken a Request for Information and related market engagement to understand the range of market options available to increase residential take-up of solar PV and battery storage in Oxfordshire. That exercise identified a range of possible approaches, including collective purchasing, loans, power purchase arrangements and subscription or managed service models. The Council is now using this further engagement to test a more focused set of requirements for a scalable, resident-facing managed service that addresses the barriers identified through that earlier work.

The proposed procurement is expected to focus on a provider-led, long-term managed energy service that addresses these barriers by combining customer engagement, installation, monitoring, maintenance, optimisation, resident support and the capital investment required for the service, without requiring upfront payment from residents.

The Council is open to alternative commercial and funding structures, provided suppliers can demonstrate how their solution meets these outcomes:

delivery and commissioning of domestic renewable energy and related technologies at scale, with the ability to support significant deployment across Oxfordshire, indicatively expected around 5,000 homes, subject to demand, eligibility, funding and procurement outcomes. The Council believes take-up could grow materially beyond this and volumes are not capped;

a resident proposition that is affordable, transparent and does not require significant upfront payment from residents;

an integrated long-term managed service covering resident engagement, home assessment, design, installation, commissioning, monitoring, maintenance, optimisation, customer support and end-of-term arrangements;

clear explanation of any proposed funding, ownership, asset management, finance, lease, security or property-rights arrangements;

transparent presentation of expected resident benefits, including the assumptions, tariff dependencies, behavioural factors and limitations that may affect those benefits;

appropriate consumer protections, including clear communications, complaints handling, support for vulnerable residents and compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements;

credible arrangements for long-term asset performance, lifecycle management, repair, replacement, data protection, service continuity and exit/transition; and

a commercial and delivery model that is scalable, deliverable, value for money and capable of being evaluated transparently through a competitive procurement process.

The Council is seeking market feedback from organisations capable of providing integrated retrofit and energy services that meet these outcomes, including providers offering innovative commercial, operational or funding approaches. The forthcoming procurement will evaluate proposals against requirements relating to resident outcomes, scale, service quality, deliverability, value for money, risk management and social value.

Interested organisations should provide written responses to the questions shown in the accompanying document. Suppliers wishing to participate in this Market Engagement must register on the Councils e-tendering portal hosted on the South East Business Portal at the following url sebp.due-north.com ↗, Once you have located this opportunity, see reference DN830137, please complete the questionnaire and submit your response via the portal. Responses must be provided by close of business on 25th Sept. Suppliers that have completed the questionnaire will be able to ask additional questions by participating in 1:1 sessions provided virtually on 28th and 29th September 2026. Suppliers wishing to have a 1:1 session should indicate this as part of their response and provide contact details to enable a Microsoft Teams event to be scheduled. Such 1:1 sessions will be of 30mins duration. Suppliers who do not complete the questionnaire will not be offered the opportunity for a 1:1 meeting. The Council may consider additional 1:1 sessions for supplier's responses to the questionnaire, received after the deadline but these sessions cannot be guaranteed,

Please also note that the Council may use responses to inform the specification, procurement route, contract structure and evaluation approach. Participation, or non-participation, in this engagement will not advantage or disadvantage any organisation in any subsequent procurement process.

The Council’s requirements, procurement route and scope remain subject to change following market engagement and internal approvals. This notice is not a call for competition and does not commit the Council to commencing a procurement, awarding a contract or adopting any particular procurement route.

The Council is not currently intending to procure a model that requires residents to enter into regulated consumer credit, hire purchase, conditional sale or similar consumer finance arrangements. The questionnaire issued as part of the Market Engagement will request you to confirm whether your proposed approach can be structured without requiring residents to receive credit, defer payment for ownership, or enter into any regulated consumer finance arrangement. Where this is not possible, please explain the legal characterisation of the arrangement, any FCA permissions, exemptions or authorised third-party arrangements relied on, and how residents would be protected from unclear, unsuitable or unaffordable financial obligations. These principles will be further tested at the Stage 1 -Participation and the Pass/Fail questions that are intended to be included at that time.